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alphadogg writes "The Ig Nobel Prize ceremony has honored a wide array of strange research and advancement over the years, from exploding pants to woodpecker headaches to aggressive parking enforcement, and Thursday night's ceremony in Cambridge, Mass., was no exception. Particular highlights included a Russian company that turns ammunition into trace amounts of diamond, Japanese engineers who developed a speech jamming device, and research into such critical topics as why coffee is so hard to carry without slopping and what makes a ponytail move the way it does."

True.. compared with the average population, a greater percentage of slashdotters are used to social stigma which, ironically, made them resilient to peer pressure, including misandry-trained women and society. It makes sense that fewer of them would want to get married, even if they are relatively ungeeky and successful.

Hardly. Tell that to the men who've been destroyed by the kangaroo family courts in this country. When she's hurt by him, it's all over the news as a national outrage. When he's hurt by her, he's emasculated on morning talk shows for being, in some cases, quite literally emasculated (penis chopped off). The attitude that men are the first cause for all her troubles is entwined in pretty much all current television and music as well. Our culture equates female empowerment with histrionic, narcissistic little twats like kim kardiashian, and then it arms this adolescent attitude with the force of the law. The net result shakes out as the men still being held responsible for sexual outcomes as in the distant past, but now lack any of the power to make relevant decisions, with the exception to abstain in the hopes it'll mitigate the risk of accusation. These guys are then labeled pussies by their sexually active peers and as 'afraid of real women' by feminists.

She can make the decision to ruin him for any reason and that's that. A glance walking down a hallway, an unbuttoned shirt, or a date request.. it doesn't matter as it's 'assault' if she says it 'made her uncomfortable'. There's no accountability on her part for using 'her right to choose' responsibly, knowing neither of them have the money to raise a child. No need to when all it takes is a belated accusation to ruin his life and have the state bilk money out of his paycheck and give it to her. If she's got a problem with him, the solution is just a single false abuse accusation away.

There cannot be equal distribution of power without equal distribution of responsibility, and one cannot fight for equality while only considering the needs, whims, and interests, of one side without considering the other.

Why not stand for rights for everyone instead of just women or not-white people? You'll never have equality (in any sense of the term) if you only support some sides and not others. Whether a group is treated well or not is immaterial to the hypocrisy their lobbyists commit when they're willing to trample others' rights along the way.

Only a single male would say that. Just you forgot to switch the bypass mode off in the 10 seconds or so BEFORE your opinion is asked for. Your actual opinion of course won't matter, it never does, but you BETTER be reflect a complete and total comphression and capacity to recall in minute detail ALL information EVER given to you during your entire time AND any information she ever thought off which you should be able to get from her and everyone else she has known by mind reading IF you value your life.

Only a single male would say that. Just you forgot to switch the bypass mode off in the 10 seconds or so BEFORE your opinion is asked for. Your actual opinion of course won't matter, it never does, but you BETTER be reflect a complete and total comphression and capacity to recall in minute detail ALL information EVER given to you during your entire time AND any information she ever thought off which you should be able to get from her and everyone else she has known by mind reading IF you value your life.

Don't worry, that's a skill that all husbands develop after five or so years of marriage.

Your comment reminded me of a joke the preacher told during his sermon last Sunday. A doctor, a lawyer, and a preacher are out deer hunting. A big nine point buck comes into view and all three fire, and the buck goes down.

The lawyer says "But how can we tell whose shot hit the mark?" The doctor says, "well, let me examine the deer."

The doctor looks the deer over and says "the preacher shot this buck." The lawyer replies "really? How can you tell?"

" LITERATURE PRIZE: The US Government General Accountability Office, for issuing a report about reports about reports that recommends the preparation of a report about the report about reports about reports.

REFERENCE: "Actions Needed to Evaluate the Impact of Efforts to Estimate Costs of Reports and Studies," US Government General Accountability Office report GAO-12-480R, May 10, 2012. "

Its a shame the guys who did this didn't get a mention: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18247680 [bbc.co.uk]It had a been a subject of great debate a amongst my friends - other stouts not doing this was a point of confusion for a long time! (which of course lead to more testing....)

Then we have to set-up a new agency overseeing the scarcity and reporting to the (also new) scarcity taskforce who in turn report to the (also newly installed) Minister of Scarcity. He in turn makes new scarcity laws and regulations and scarcity-tax. The latter has to be collected by the IRS, the former have to be implemented (and reported about), enforced (and reported about), and reported about. And of course we finally need a scarcity-ombudsman to see that no one has a monopoly, nor the government, nor a

" LITERATURE PRIZE: The US Government General Accountability Office, for issuing a report about reports about reports that recommends the preparation of a report about the report about reports about reports.

Recirculation patterns are pretty common when the fluid flows through an expansion, specially if it's a sharp cut.

You can see it clearly in this case because of the gas bubbles, but this happens everywhere: next time you walk behind a building on the shore, watch the huge recirculation that the wind forms. This is usually how people with umbrellas end up wet "because of the crazy wind".

No. We are honoring achievements that make people laugh, then think. Good achievements can also be odd, funny, and even absurd; So can bad achievements. A lot of good science gets attacked because of its absurdity. A lot of bad science gets revered despite its absurdity.

"The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology."

I think you have misunderstood the Ig Nobel Prize. It's not intended to mock the recipients. It's intended, partly, to reward basic (and sometimes not so basic) research into areas you'd otherwise forget might benefit from research.

"Are you ridiculing science?No. We are honoring achievements that make people laugh, then think. Good achievements can also be odd, funny, and even absurd; So can bad achievements. A lot of good science gets attacked because of its absurdity. A lot of bad science gets revered despite its absurdity."

Also take a look at just how many of them actually show up to receive their prizes. This isn't the Golden Raspberries, an award you hope to avoid. They really are laughing with them, rather than at them.

Does anyone else think that researching ways NOT to make someone explode when pumping gas in there during a colonoscopy might actually be a good thing? I don't really want to end up like one of Dig Dug's enemies, you know...

For what it is worth, not having a part of me explode during surgery sounds useful. The award of the report about the report about the report about the report does sound like a Monty Python joke though.

Does anyone else think that researching ways NOT to make someone explode when pumping gas in there during a colonoscopy might actually be a good thing? I don't really want to end up like one of Dig Dug's enemies, you know...

Eew... you mean Dig Dug was shoving his hose up the monsters' backsides? (*) No wonder I preferred Mr. Do...

(*) Upon proofreading this, the unintentional innuendo makes it sound even worse:-O

Without reading the research, coffee is hard to carry while walking because the regular pace of your walking creates a resonant frequency that increases the sloshing until it spills over. If you take irregular steps or move your cup around in a random motion you can overcome this. However, you won't look cool doing either of these.

I shall be moving my tea irregularly while walking. Also my investigation reveals gravity to be the root cause of all my problems. And for others. If we had no moon, woman wouldnt have such bad days each month.

If you take irregular steps or move your cup around in a random motion you can overcome this.

If you walk without rhythm, you wont attract the worm. Who knew it was mostly interested in spilled coffee.

Also, changing the amount of coffee in the container should change the mass of the arm/cup/coffee system and may move its natural frequency away from your natural stride. (but that is harder to fit into a sci-fi plot and/or techno beat)

Actually I'd love to read up on the speech jammer. I've often had my cell phone do the very thing. Repeat my words with a slight delay and it is nearly impossible to hold a conversation while listening to myself a half second later.

Yeah, it's really interesting when you work with monitors and the like so that people can hear themselves. If it's near-instantaneous, they have no issue, but if you increase the delay just slightly, it can be extremely disorienting if you're unused to it. I sometimes record videos with live voiceover from myself and some folks on Skype (read: I make Let's Play [wikipedia.org] videos for YouTube), and because of how I have things set up, my own voice comes back through my headphones with a delay of about a second (it's due

You know, exploding bladders during *cystoscopy* actually CAN happen... when you are using an electric HF sling to cut tissue in the bladder, you are also generating hydrogen and oxygen from electrolysis of the liquid that is used to distend the organ. The instruments produces an arc and can in unfortunate circumstances ignite the gas bubble that may form under the bladder's roof. Which can get nasty... *pop*